Almonds in air cleaner

 On June 25th, I purchased a new '08 650 v-star and have put about 650 km
(400 miles) on it. Today, before putting the bike to bed for the evening, I
noticed that one of the allen head screws holding the air cleaner cover was
missing. I thought this would be a good time to look inside at the filter.

When I took out the remaining two allen head screws, approximately 10
almonds fell out of the air cleaner cover, all over the ground and engine!
Another 30 or so were still inside the cover.

My questions are these...
    Is there ANY LOGICAL REASON why the almonds would have been placed
inside the cover?
    At the factory while being built?
    At the dealer's shop during final assembly?
    Perhaps by an upset and unhappy mechanic at the shop?

I washed out the cover and got as much of the fine almond "dust" out of the
filter as possible.  I also took pictures of the mess of almonds in and
around the bike.

Any opinions or comments would be appreciated

 

That's just nuts ;-)

 



A squirrel obviously found it to be a nest or storage.

 



I seriously doubt that. Acorns possibly but not almonds. And a squirrel
could not get into the air cleaner. I would have some serious questions for
the dealer.

 



I took the bike into the dealership for its 1000 km (600 mi) service and
apparently this has happened before...
I suggested that if this is a recurring problem, they should perhaps open
the air cleaner and check to make sure it is clean.
I was told that the bike comes from Japan assembled except for the front
wheel and bars, and they have "no reason" to look in there. Perhaps now they
will think they have "reason".
My service was performed, and the dealer threw in a new air filter bike free
of charge